“Lysander already knew what they were going to do,” Damon said, echoing Alexia’s earlier conclusion. “In the past, he appeared to support the Sophist Faction, but his behavior was never in keeping with their desire for peace. He aspired to become a Bloodlord with his own harem, but he knew there are already too many in Erebus. He could never advance himself until Opir territory expands.”
Alexia nodded. “And so it would make perfect sense that he’d support the faction that would risk war to grab more turf.”
Damon crouched by the pack again and withdrew a pair of sturdy socks. “Maybe Lysander was originally sent out by the Council, but they don’t know he’s betrayed them.”
“Whatever they know or don’t know, I’m sure Lysander was involved with whoever was shooting at us before, even if he wasn’t one of the snipers himself. His surprise was just too off to be believable. And then there was that bit about not seeing Michael. That might be possible, but I think it’s far more likely that either he or the dead guy was the one Michael was following.”
Damon’s face settled into grim lines as he used his good hand to pull on his socks. “Either he was unaware that your partner was dead, or he was lying about that, as well.”
At least I know he couldn’t have killed Michael, Alexia thought with a rush of sadness.
“We still don’t know if all the shooters were the same,” Damon said, “or if they had different motives. There are plenty of those to go around.”
“Michael raised a good point about the colony probably not having the tech to do anything with the patch,” she said. “Unless, as he also suggested, they were trying to buy freedom from Erebus by selling it to them.”
Damon untied the laces of his boots. “You said the colony wanted equality for all Opiri, regardless of rank.”
“That’s what Lysander told me.”
“Did he say who established the colony?”
“Someone named Theron, I think.”
Either it was her imagination, or Damon suddenly went unnaturally still all at once, like a vid caught between one image and the next.
“You know the name?” she asked.
He continued with his boots as if nothing had happened. “It is familiar,” he said. “But such a philosophy, if viable, would be anathema to all of Erebus, including the Council.”
Alexia searched his face. Was he admitting that the Council would be just as hostile to the colony as the Expansionists? Maybe enough to want it destroyed, too?
“We still can’t be sure how much of what Lysander said about the settlement or the Expansionists’ plans were lies,” she said.
Damon put on his boots, unfastened one of the outer pockets of his pack and withdrew a spare knife, smaller than the other but every bit as nasty-looking. “The first Opir’s warnings seem to confirm at least some of it was the truth. There must be a great deal more Lysander didn’t tell us.”
“And none of this explains why none of the shooters killed us.”
“Indeed.”
Alexia went to join Damon, aware in every nerve of the heat of his body, the smell of his skin, the planes and angles of his face. As crazy as it was under these very dangerous circumstances, in spite of the matter of the blood, she wanted him again.
From the way Damon’s muscled clenched up, Alexia had an idea he was thinking the same thing she was. She could almost feel his desire, like static electricity raising all the hair on the back of her arm. His nostrils flared and the corner of his mouth twitched.
But he resisted his body’s demands. Even without moving, he seemed to lean away from her, putting more space between them.
It hurt. But Alexia was glad. Whatever Lysander had said, they could still both control their “irrational impulses.”
“We know Lysander was lying about your new ‘orders,’” she said, “unless you think the Council would really change your mission right after you left.”
“Unlikely,” he said, staring into the darkness clotted among the branches of the old oak.
“Then why would Lysander pretend that the Council wanted you to escort me back to the Border when he knew I’d report my suspicions to Aegis?”
Damon balanced the knife’s blade on one extended finger. “The orders Lysander gave me are not what he told you,” he said. “They instruct me to take you and Michael back to Erebus, where we would be met secretly by Council Security. They claim this is to protect you from the Expansionists, but I believe members of the Expansionists would be the ones to meet us, and probably before we ever reach the Citadel. They wouldn’t risk taking us too close to Erebus.”
“So they just want us to walk into a trap so they can kill us? What would be the purpose, considering how many times they’ve had a chance to do it already?”
“I don’t know.” He stabbed the knife’s tip into the dirt between his feet with enough force to bend the blade. “I think they’d keep you alive, if possible. You have too much potential value to them.”
“Why? Why me in particular?”
He shoulders hunched as if to ward off her question. “It would be too much a risk to take you for such a reason.”
“What is the reason, Damon?”
Damon turned the blade from side to side, catching the moonlight so that the metal seemed to burn with cold fire. “As you once noted, the offspring of Opir and human are forbidden in Erebus. There are no dhampires there. But sometime during the War, an Opir was said to have discovered that dhampir blood acts as a stimulant and aphrodisiac on the Opir system.”
Alexia lost her balance, dropping from a crouch to her knees. “You mean like the drug that keeps my kind alive?”
“This one is purely recreational.” His teeth flashed in a humorless smile, bright as the blade. “To many, it is only a myth. You probably know better than I how many dhampires have disappeared in the Zone since the Armistice. Some Bloodmasters may have obtained dhampir serfs born before the end of the War, but they would be rare. As you can imagine, the demand is quite high.”
“And Aegis...” She felt bile climb into her throat. “They can’t possibly know this.”
“As I said, it may be only myth.”
That was scant comfort, Alexia thought ruefully.
“Would it work the same on you?” she asked.
“No. I am not full Opir.”
The statement was so final that Alexia decided he was telling the truth.
“And in spite of all this,” she said, struggling to find a little humor, “you don’t think the Expansionists would try to sell me for some fabulous sum?”
“They know Aegis would investigate your and Michael’s complete disappearance.”
“But the enemy would expect that no matter what happened,” Alexia said, shivering in spite of herself. “They’ve got my patch. Maybe they can use me for some kind of experiment.”
Damon frowned and looked into her eyes. “Such speculation is pointless. We still can’t be sure who stole it, the colony or the Expansionists. Even if we knew the Expansionists had it, we’re not going anywhere near Erebus. I won’t risk it until we have more concrete information.”
“Then I guess we’d better start looking for answers closer to home.”
“Some answers aren’t worth the price.” He reached over and laid his hand on her arm, so lightly that she barely felt it. “Lysander did say one thing of value. You shouldn’t be further involved, Alexia. Your partner is dead, and you’ve suffered a grievous injury. Aegis would not expect you to continue this mission under the circumstances, and—”
“You just said since I was the sole survivor of my team, I had to finish the mission myself.”
She’d caught him, and he knew it. But that wasn’t enough to make him give up. “I was wrong,” he said.
“Forget it.”
He tightened his grip. “Michael would have reported the theft of the patch, but now that task is yours. Our new information makes it even more essential that Aegis be informed of the Expansionists’ plans so th
at there will be no misunderstanding if and when the colony is attacked. They must know that the Council is not involved.”
“You said yourself that you aren’t privy to the Council’s deliberations. Given what you’ve said about how Erebus would feel about the colonists’ philosophy, what if they aren’t controlling the Expansionists because they want them to do the Council’s dirty work?”
“They are not involved,” he repeated.
“Isn’t that just what you want to believe, Damon? Because if the Council is just as bad as the Expansionists, you have no reason to serve any of them?”
He got up and moved away from her, a few uneven strides in one direction and then back again. “You’re wrong. We agree that any overt move on the colony could be interpreted to be an act of war. The Independents’ entire purpose is to maintain the status quo.”
“Do you really believe Aegis would send soldiers into the Zone because Erebus eliminated its own illegal colony?” she asked, rising to follow him. “That would make war a certainty.”
“How can you agree that this is a highly volatile situation for both sides if you don’t believe Aegis would take action in that case? Why would they have sent you to investigate at all?”
He was right, of course. It was all imprudent talk on her part, an effort to make herself feel less helpless.
“Then explain to me why you told Lysander that Aegis might be pleased if the colony were destroyed?” she asked. “Why would you even suggest that to him?”
“I don’t believe it, Alexia. I was attempting to throw him off his stride in any way possible, and see what might result.” He held her gaze intently. “We once discussed the fact that the Enclave is just as responsible for the serfs in Erebus as the Opiri. The reason I am convinced that your government would act in the case of violence against the colonists is for that very reason. The Treaty specifies that no humans may be killed in Citadel territory.”
He was silent for some time before he spoke again. “There must be much hostility and resistance to the custom of sending condemned criminals to Erebus, and guilt is a very powerful human emotion,” he said. “Would your government dare remain indifferent to a few dozen human deaths, even if the dead were merely cast-off criminals?”
Pulling back a clenched fist, Alexia swung at Damon’s face. He caught her hand with his own good one and held her still, breathing as hard as if they had just finished a knockdown, drag-out fight.
“What is it?” he taunted, leaning toward her. “Is the hypocrisy of your own people too difficult to bear?”
Alexia squeezed her eyes shut. Oh, Garret. “You son of a bitch,” she hissed, hating him even as the feel of his skin on hers sent a spike of desire through her body.
He tightened his fingers around her fist. “What were your orders coming into the Zone, Alexia? Were you only to observe? Or were you perhaps sent to find a way to get the humans out of the colony before Erebus’s factions tore it apart?”
“Where in hell did you get that idea?” she spat, struggling to free herself.
“It would be a way for your government to avoid open warfare and still retain the goodwill of those citizens who reject their method of holding the Opiri at bay with condemned prisoners,” he said, keeping his iron grip on her wrist. “If they made the case that the Council could not keep the Treaty by protecting its serfs from destruction, they could avoid hostilities completely.”
“That’s insane. You’re assuming Aegis already knew what was going on here!”
“You never denied they might have sent another agent ahead of you and Michael.”
“I never said—”
A muscle flexed in his cheek. “And the Council’s first agent investigating the colony was killed by an Enclave weapon.”
“I don’t know anything about that!” Her chest grew tight as it occurred to her just how much she might not have known. “I was never told about any previous mission to investigate the settlement.”
“Then consider that Aegis might already have been well-informed about the situation in the Zone and has already planned its response. You would want Aegis to save the colony’s serfs, would you not?”
“You don’t know a damned thing about it!”
Abruptly he let her go. “I, too, have my secrets, Alexia.” He sighed and backed away. “The current situation makes it impossible to keep them any longer.”
Alexia rubbed at her cramped fingers, her stomach rolling over and over like a trained circus dog. “What?” she said.
“You should know the real reason why I was sent to meet you and your partner.”
“You didn’t come to help us observe the colony?” she asked, anger fading to a formless sense of dread.
“No. I was sent to prevent you from getting near it.”
Chapter 13
All the nerves in Alexia’s body seemed to jump at once, lifting her like an express elevator and then sending her plummeting all the way to the bottom of the shaft.
“Then I was right after all,” she whispered. “The Council is involved in this, up to its eyeballs.”
“No, Alexia. My orders were to keep you away until the Council could complete its own investigation of the colony, without Enclave involvement, so that they might resolve the situation internally. I knew no more until we met Lysander.”
“You didn’t know about any double agents running loose?”
“Until I spoke to Lysander, I wasn’t aware that the Council had employed such an agent.”
“But you weren’t even aware there were enemies out here. You denied the possibility.” She took several deep breaths to calm herself. “You suggested that Aegis might be working with the Council. Was that to trick me into admitting something you might find useful?”
“I said it was possible, not that I knew it to be a fact.”
“What other little white lies have you been telling me, Damon?”
He hesitated, and then met her gaze. “Those other hypothetical Council operatives I told you about when we met,” he said, “were sent to fire on us so that we would remain together.”
Now that the first shock was past, Alexia found that she felt very little, not even anger.
“Those people out there?” she said numbly, the faces of the slain Council agents still vivid in her mind.
“I don’t know. I was not told their names. But it seems...” He trailed off, bowing his head.
“Whoever did it,” Alexia said, “it worked.” Oh, how well it had worked. She swallowed, searching for words that could find their way through the vise clamping her throat. “I take it they weren’t supposed to actually kill us?”
Damon crouched to pick up the knife, testing the fingers connected to his broken wrist. “I considered the possibility that the first shooter we encountered might be one of them. Then, when we were attacked again, I initially thought it could be the same agent or agents. Until they nearly killed us and removed your patch. That was not in the plan.”
“I guess something went a little wrong.”
He continued to gaze at the knife, carefully brushing dirt off the blade with the pad of his fingertip. “Yes,” he said. “Very wrong.”
She knew then that he had no idea his confession had revealed much more to her than the mere facts of his orders. Oh, it must have been inconvenient for Damon when Michael had “refused” to join him and Alexia on their trek to the colony.
Had Damon been amused when he’d “saved her life” from the first shooter, whom he’d presumed to be one of his own? And what about the second attack? If he’d thought, even for a moment, that the ones who had tried to kill him and Alexia might be on his side, why hadn’t he warned her then?
“We are partners, Agent Fox,” he had said. “That makes us equals, does it not?”
How could they be? He had kept too much from her, vital information that could have helped her make the right decisions, might even have saved Michael somehow. She had believed Damon when she should have been most suspicious.
“Either the Colonists or the Expansionists attacked us to get the patch,” Damon continued, oblivious to her inner turmoil. “As you said, I made an unforgivable mistake in assuming that the Expansionists would not have their own covert agents and risk firefights between Opiri in the Zone. I fear they have already done incalculable damage.”
He feared, did he? Were any of his emotions real? Had all the feelings Damon had expressed for her since the theft of her patch, the intensity and sincerity of his lovemaking, been lies, as well?
“Yet you still have such utter faith that the Council didn’t decide it was more convenient to deter me and Michael by eliminating us outright...and blame it on somebody else?”
“You must trust me, Alexia—”
She laughed. “Trust you?”
“Why would they send me if their purpose was to kill you and Michael?”
“Why did the Council send only one agent to stay with us? How could they not know that Expansionists agents weren’t loose in the Zone?” She shot him a withering look. “None of this says much for your Council’s ability to gather intelligence and deal with unexpected contingencies. Or for yours.”
He glanced up at her, all earnestness and remorse. “What do you want me to say that has not already been said?” he asked. “That we are dispensable pawns in a game we cannot understand?”
“Aren’t we, Damon? Haven’t we always known that, you and I?”
“Yes,” he said heavily. “We are pawns, Alexia, one way or another. But I still have my duty, as you do. I must do it as best I can.”
“And so must I.”
“You will not return to the Enclave?”
The very fact that he had to ask that question again was testament to how little he knew her.
“You’d like to get rid of me, wouldn’t you? Maybe you didn’t kill Michael, but you’re glad he was cooperative enough to die.”
He jumped to his feet, the knife clenched in his fist. “So my honesty has led you to decide that I really would have harmed you or your partner to keep you away from the colony?”
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